What it means
ویزا (vizâ) means visa, the official permission stamped or attached to a passport allowing entry into a country. The word comes directly from French visa, which is the past participle of the Latin verb videre, meaning to see or to have been seen. Persian borrowed it unchanged in both pronunciation and meaning. Unlike many loanwords that sit only in formal registers, ویزا is used naturally in everyday conversation: there is no competing native Persian word for this concept. A common phrase you will hear is ویزا گرفتن (vizâ gereftan), meaning to obtain a visa.
How to use it
- برای اتریش باید ویزا بگیری. (barâye otris bâyad vizâ begiri.) “You need to get a visa for Austria.”
- ویزام رد شد. (vizâm radd shod.) “My visa was rejected.”
- ویزای توریستی میخوام. (vizây-e turisti mikhâm.) “I want a tourist visa.”
- ویزا چند وقته طول میکشه؟ (vizâ chand vaqte tul mikeshe?) “How long does the visa take?”
Cultural note
Visa access is a sensitive topic for many Iranians. Iranian passport holders face significant restrictions and must apply for visas to most destinations worldwide, often with low approval rates. This reality shapes how Iranians talk about travel: getting a visa approved is treated as a genuine achievement, and the process of applying, waiting, and being rejected is a shared experience that comes up frequently in conversation. In contrast, travelers from visa-waiver countries visiting Iran can sometimes obtain a visa on arrival, which has become a common route for tourists in recent years.